The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has dismissed two of its top officials who were suspended nearly a year ago for initiating investigations against Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.

The Director and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Modibbo Tukur, notified the two officials of their dismissal in separate letters sent to them on June 29.

Report had had it that Mohammed Mustapha, the associate director, Intelligence and Investigation, and Fehintola Salisu, associate director, Compliance and Analysis, were suspended by Mr Tukur in August 2020 for initiating the probes against Mr Abubakar, a former Vice President , and Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State.

Although both Messrs Abubakar and Tinubu are big guns in the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC), respectively, both men are believed to be eyeing the presidency in the forthcoming 2023 elections.

Mr Tukur levelled other allegations against the two senior NFIU officials, but initiating separate investigations against the two politically-exposed persons appeared to be the driving force for the action taken against them.

According to him, Mr Mustapha wrote to the Inspector-General of Police and the Chair of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Mr Abubakar without authorisation in violation of his standing directive.

He had added that launching such investigation was not part of Mr Mustapha’s departmental briefing.

On Ms Salisu’s role in the former Vice-President’s case, the NFIU Director stated in a document, “she claimed to have minuted the request on the investigation of Atiku Abubakar to Mustapha AbdulRahman (Mr Mustapha) who went ahead to write IGP and the EFCC Chairman directly, all without approval while I was actively on duty as the Head of Agency.”

Mr Tukur also alleged that Mr Mustapha sent a request to the United States of America based on an old Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) case against Mr Tinubu.